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Home Secretary G K Pillai backtracked on his statement given earlier on Friday where he said that Hyderabad would be the capital of the proposed Telangana state.
"Hyderabad, I think, will always be the capital of Telangana," Pillai, who is on a visit to Jammu, told reporters after a security review meeting.
But immediately his remarks were opposed by political leaders from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema who are opposed to creation of Telangana and more so Hyderabad being its capital.
Shortly later, Pillai issued a clarification saying that he did not state that Hyderabad would be the capital of Telangana.
"In response to a question from a journalist that the proponents for the State of Telangana had wanted Hyderabad to be its capital, Home Secretary had stated that this was what they wanted. "The issue of the Capital for the proposed new state of Telangana for which steps have been initiated is a matter that is to be decided by consensus and by the Government," a Home Ministry spokesman said in a statement in national capital.
MPs from Andhra Pradesh were also furious over Pillai's remarks. "We go by what Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh), Congress President Sonia Gandhi says and not by Pillai, Superintendent of Police or a clerk...let the Home Secretary give separate Telangana, if he is capable," Congress MP K S Rao told reporters in Parliament.